Bimorph mirrors for adaptive optics in space telescopes

This paper discusses a concept of bimorph deformable mirror used in adaptive optics to compensate for manufacturing errors, gravity release and thermal distortion affecting large lightweight mirrors in space telescopes. The mirror consists of a single-crystal Silicon wafer (D=75 mm t=500μm) covered with an optical coating on the front side and an array of 25 independent PZT actuators acting in d31 mode on the back side. The mirror is mounted on an isostatic support with three linear PZT actuators controlling the rigid-body motion. The paper presents the experimental results obtained with this design and a new, more compact alternative.